


Proletariat Hysteria

by ArsenicHazard



Category: Original Work
Genre: Basilisks, Caves, Firebending & Firebenders, Gen, Icebending & Icebenders, M/M, Monsters, Poisoning, Royalty
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-16
Updated: 2020-09-16
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:40:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26489563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArsenicHazard/pseuds/ArsenicHazard
Summary: Trapped in the basilisk's cave, Jax and Jun begin to realize their fate if they don't act fast.(Originally written for Inktober 2016)





	Proletariat Hysteria

They were trapped.

The basilisk that had discovered the group of guards around Jun and Jax was now cornering them in a dead ended cavern. The beast, luckily did not fit in where they all hid out in fear, but it waited nonetheless, blocking any exit or air flow

Because of this, Jax found it hard to light fires. Sure it would work fine in his palm, but the airlock wiped out the fire once it hit wood. The boy lit the torches as best as he could, doused in fuel, the flames small and giving off minimal amounts of light.

Jun, Prince of the Northern nation, watched as the lone Southern boy lit the torches, his skill with the element easily mastered. It confused him greatly, since he had never heard of a peasant boy being able to possess the royal powers of element bending.

Once they had all been seated, the waiting began. Jax didn’t say much to the northern guards, just trying to stay warm by one of his minor fires. The walls of the cavern were freezing, letting them know they were still in the North, even after their long trek.

It was about an hour later when things in the cavern turned worse. Some of the lower ranked guards had recently gotten restless, pacing around the enclosed area. Prince Jun had tried to tell them to be seated, there was no use in wasting energy now, but they couldn’t sit still. Then they started twitching and muttering, as if talking to no one.

When the lower men began discarding armour and clothing, the Prince knew something was seriously wrong. The cave was cold, and even if they were Northerners, that amount of exposed skin could deaden a limb. 

The symptoms progressed to foamy vomit, drooling and speaking incoherently. Older ranked soldiers tried to help the men, panic rising as they convulsed.

Just as it seemed to pass, Jun noticed the captains of the troops begin to act out. Standing, he looked around, trying to assess the situation. Quickly finding his books on illnesses, he scanned through until he reached the chapter on hysteria.

Legend had it that the basilisk had a special type of poison for its prey when catching it was increasingly difficult. The poison came in a gas or liquid form, and upon contact, victims would get seizure-like symptoms.

There was a specific immunity –or temporary immunity. The poison seemed to work through lower classes first, climbing up the scale to royalty, which gave higher ranks the opportunity to escape with no harm done. If the victim’s eyes rolled to the back of their head, they were too far gone to be cured. The poison can be remedied through long exposure to clean air.

That’s it?  _ Clean air? _ There was no actual cure unless they could escape.

Looking around for any of his men to call over and talk this through with, Jun came up empty. All of the guards were either experiencing the symptoms, or helping those that were.

His eyes landed on the only man not focusing on the current situation. Sitting, huddled by the fire, Jax looked… well, pathetic. He had Jun’s cape draped over his shoulders, palms outstretched to the fire.

Narrowing his eyes, questions ran through his head. If it started with lower class people, why then, was Jax not showing signs of being affected? Ignoring the question for now, he called the man over. He had bigger problems at hand than the lack of continuity with the southerner.

“We need to find out how the basilisk is poisoning us.” He stated quietly, looking around the cavern. Jax glanced around too, thinning his lips. “How does the poison get activated? With a touch to the beast? It’s saliva?”

Looking back down at the pages, Jax aiding his vision by providing a small tongue of fire in his palm, he read it outloud.

“The poison is most potent in humid areas, with little to no air circulation.”

“The walls.” Jax muttered, staring at them in silent horror. “It’s seeping in from the rocks.”

“Everyone put out the fires around you!” Jun ordered hurriedly. Those that had an extra hand extinguished the fires, leaving everyone in complete darkness.

“..so what now?” Jax whispered anxiously.

The condition of the higher ranking officers was depleting fast, now they too were foaming at the mouth, seizing. 

Jun felt panicked, swallowing down his worry for a stoic expression. The less men that were physically able to fight, the harder it would be to take on the basilisk.

And yet, through this all, the prince had noticed one particular fire-bending southerner not feeling any symptoms at all.

Jun was a smart man. He may not have been the first born, but he was raised to be the king after his brother had died, and as such, he could easily piece two and two together. Not only was the man able to wield an element –something only  _ royalty _ could do, but he had said earlier that he was adopted, and now this; he was not even affected by the poison, leaving him and the prince as the last two to be sterile. This southerner had shown up at their camp  _ conveniently _ , tried making friends and getting close to the prince, and now he had led them into the cavern with the basilisk, trapping them all there to die.

“ _ You. _ ” The prince growled, his hand finding his sword. He stood, watching the panic slip into the other’s eyes as he backed up. The blade was pressed to Jax’s neck, the fire-bender anxiously looking at the other. They had been fine…? They had been strategizing when the Snow Prince had turned on him all angry and crazy.

“Wait, what?” Jax asked, unsure.

“You have been plotting to kill me this entire time. The prince of the South infiltrating and killing the prince of the North. You’re trying to win the war, aren’t you?”

“Woah, woah, woah!” The southerner said hurriedly. “I’m not a prince, Jun! Is the poison affecting you too?”

Come to think of it, the irritability in Jun had been sudden and unexpected. He was feeling unnaturally warm in the darkness of the cave, and… yes… he was uncomfortable in these clothes. So itchy…

“Prince Jun!” Jax said hurriedly as the man nearly collapsed, dropping his sword.

Lowering the other to the ground, he swallowed thickly. Well now it was only him left and this poison, and a basilisk.

“I’m gonna get us out of here.” He whispered to the other as Jun shut his eyes, trembling.

The problem was: Jax had no idea how he was going to do that, or how much time he had to figure it out.

Rushing back over the books of Jun’s he searched through for any information on the basilisk. It was only about a quarter an hour later when he began to grow uncomfortable. Fighting down the urge to tug off Jun’s cape that was around his shoulders, he stood, finally having set up his plan and now going to pray it worked, it would be the last chance he had before the hysteria took over.

Slowly moving towards the entrance of the cavern, he lit his palm. There was no sign of the basilisk this minute, but he had been tracking its patterns and knew it would return any second. Stepping out from the smaller cavern, into a space large enough for the beast, he closed his palm, left in darkness as he waited.

Jax tugged off his shoes, his bare skin now stood on the cold stone ground. He felt the vibrations against his feet as the beast began to approach. Lighting the fire in his hand again, he caught the attention of the basilisk, turning on his heels and sprinting back to the cavern. Adrenaline coursed through his veins, knowing he was not as fast as the creature, but he hoped his head start would give him just enough time.

Reaching the entrance to their little hideaway, Jax nearly collapsed, out of breath, the basilisk running head first towards the opening, struggling and failing to break through. Rushing over to the side of the cavern, hidden behind the rock wall, he set fire to the few of Jun’s books that were necessary to this plan. The paper caught fire easily, causing a domino effect of flame that ran directly under where the basilisk now was. The creature snarled and screamed its skin highly flammable. The boy had hidden the rest of the guards behind the wall, avoiding the extreme heat of the dying beast.

He had done it. They were safe.

**.** **.** **.**

Prince Jun had returned to consciousness not long after Jax had gotten all of them back outdoors. The young man had made a fire, sitting close to it in attempts to stay warm. He perked up as the prince stirred, sitting and taking in his surroundings. Jax had saved them.

Moving over to sit next to him by the fire, he relaxed gradually. “Thank you.” He muttered.

The fire bender brightened, knowing that his compliments were a rarity.

Jun continued, the thoughts of what he had said still plaguing him. 

“Jax, are you sure you aren’t royalty?”

Jax would have been able to deny that easily before. He had always been raised as a commoner and he had no knowledge of his real parents, but now, the Snow Prince was making him question everything he had been told.

“I- I honestly don’t know.”


End file.
